The study released Thursday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found Twitter to be a hotbed of opinionated discussion about the campaign. But a majority of the candidates, including President Barack Obama, have received more negative than positive coverage on Twitter than in regular news coverage or blogs.

Among the findings:

—Texas Rep. Ron Paul has been more popular on Twitter than any of the other candidates, even though he’s received relatively limited press coverage. Fully 55 percent of tweets about Paul have been positive, the study found, compared with 15 percent that were negative.

—Negative tweets about the rest of the Republican field have outweighed positive tweets by at least a 2-1 margin. Obama has fared even worse, with negative assessments outweighing positive by a 3-1 margin.

—Tweets about three Republican candidates — Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Herman Cain, who suspended his campaign last Saturday — grew increasingly negative since October, the study found. Newt Gingrich, who has surged to the top of many polls in recent weeks, became the subject of more positive than negative tweets the week of Oct. 24.

—Obama far outpaced the Republican field in the number of tweets about him. The Democratic president was the subject of about 15 million mentions, compared with Cain, who was the subject of 2.1 million tweets. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, placed third with 1.5 million. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was fourth with 1.4 million mentions.

—The study found the language used on Twitter to be “very personal and pungent and even profane … leveling allegations that would be off-limits in more traditional news coverage.”

Gallup Poll Shows Narrowing Enthusiasm Gap – Republicans are less enthusiastic about voting for president in 2012, according to a new Gallup survey released early Thursday, suggesting that the turnout advantage they enjoyed in last year’s midterm elections may be waning.

Forty-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared to 44 percent who say they are less enthusiastic. In a mid-September survey, 58 percent of Republicans were more enthusiastic, while just 30 percent said they were less enthusiastic.

While the gap may be narrowing, Democrats’ enthusiasm has not increased accordingly: 44 percent say they are more enthusiastic (compared to 45 percent in September), while 47 percent say they are less enthusiastic.

Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport posits that the closing of the enthusiasm gap — from 13 points to 5 — “could reflect the intensive and bruising battle” for the GOP presidential nomination and “the rapid rise and fall of various candidates” therein. But if enthusiasm among Republicans continues to decrease, it could have effects beyond the presidential election, potentially threatening the GOP’s ability to take control of the Senate and maintain or increase its majority in the House.

Abramoff says Gingrich was lobbying – Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff hit Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich for his claims that he did no lobbying on behalf of the mortgage and health care companies that paid him millions in consulting fees, calling the system of providing “strategic advice” corrupt.

“I don’t want to say he’s lying, he may believe what he’s saying, but people have to understand that lobbying isn’t just going to meet with members,” Abramoff said.

Abramoff served more than three years in prison following a conviction for corruption and fraud stemming from gifts he provided in exchange for votes to benefit Native American tribes and casinos.

Their ideas are split into two strategic camps: Focus on his congressional career, which was marked by partisanship and, at times, his embrace of very conservative positions, or, highlight Gingrich’s tumultuous personal history and uneven temperament.

A strategy focused on Gingrich the man would give Democrats a chance to shift the campaign away from a conversation about Obama’s handling of the economy, where he continues to receive low marks, to a battle of personalities. Gingrich’s history of adultery and his three marriages have already caused problems for him in the GOP primary, and those issues could linger into the fall. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released late last month showed that only 35 percent of a general-election audience holds a favorable view of him, while 42 percent hold an unfavorable view.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is buying television advertising in Oregon’s First Congressional District, an indication that the race to sew up ex-Rep. David Wu’s old seat may not be in the bag.

The Democratic ad attacks businessman Rob Cornilles (R) for alleged ties to the tea party movement, a theme that Democrats have been hammering throughout the special election. The ad buy will run beginning Thursday through the weekend, at a cost of $124,280 — a significant investment in the Portland media market.

“In this environment, we’re not taking anything for granted especially when the Republican is an untrustworthy self-funder who is trying to rewrite his extreme Tea Party positions,” a DCCC spokeswoman said.

The Democratic nominee, former state Sen. Suzane Bonamici, is up with her own advertisement, a positive ad that features Bonamici meeting voters and railing against debt and subsidies for oil companies. Bonamici’s ad was produced by Dixon Davis Media, the prominent Washington-based firm.

Transcript of Washington Examiner interview with Mitt Romney – MARK TAPSCOTT: From the very beginning of this race you’ve drawn support from about 25 percent of Republican voters and there’s been a succession of “not Romney” shooting stars, if you will, who shot up and then down. What do you think is the reason you’ve stayed in this 25 percent area of support?

MITT ROMNEY: I don’t know the answer, in part because I am not a political scientist, a pundit who evaluates why people move in one direction or another. I am a conservative business guy with a message to the American people that I think is compelling. And if so I’ll be the nominee and the president, and if not I’ll go back to business. And so I have theories that I hear various people say different things. I hear some say, ‘look, you’re well known,’ – I’m well known – ‘people know who you are, they saw you last time around, there’s an image of who you are, as other people come around they project on them a sense that they are exactly like who we are as voters, and we give them a lot of support, and then comes the agonizing reappraisal as we get to know them and their strengths and their weaknesses and their numbers may trail off. Some trail off more precipitously. Others will come off in a more gentle manner.’ But I stay about the same.

MA-Sen Poll Watch: Elizabeth Warren soars 7 up over Scott Brown – Democrat Elizabeth Warren has opened up a lead against Republican incumbent Scott Brown for the first time in their U.S. Senate showdown, but a barrage of attack ads appears to have damaged Warren and Brown’s standing among Massachusetts voters, a new University of Massachusetts at Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows.

Warren leads Brown by a 49-42 percent margin, outside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points. That number includes voters who say they are “leaning” for either candidate. But even without the “leaners,” Warren still leads by a 46-41 percent margin, barely within the margin of error.

Religion just got re-injected into the presidential race thanks to new ads from Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. But really, it never left.

New polls in Iowa suggest Romney’s Mormon religion continues to be a sticking point among all-important evangelical Christians there. And that’s bad news for a Romney campaign that is trying desperately to prevent Newt Gingrich from scoring a big victory in the state’s caucuses.

A new CNN/Time poll out Wednesday showed Romney trailing Gingrich 33 percent to 20 percent in the Hawkeye State. A look at the crosstabs suggests religion is a big reason why.

Read his lips: John Sununu hates Newt Gingrich – With former Speaker Newt Gingrich surging in the polls, former Gov. Mitt Romney has finally decided it’s time to go on the offensive. One of the men Romney has lined up to attack Gingrich is former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu.

The feud is not new.

As a former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, Sununu has a long-held grudge against Gingrich — who fought Bush’s budget deal that included raising taxes.

Here’s an excerpt from a 1990 Fred Barnes article that describes a meeting for Bush’s re-election efforts:

Sununu attacked congressional Republicans for abandoning the president. House Republican whip Newt Gingrich, who led the opposition to the budget deal, wasn’t invited to the meeting. But he was on Sununu’s and [former OMB director Richard] Darman’s mind. “You could see the Newt chip on their shoulders,” said one Bush adviser. “It was a strikingly bad discussion. The death embrace [of Sununu and Darman] grew tighter.”

The White House is misleading reporters tonight by claiming that new revenue in the framework that was discussed would have been generated by letting the current tax rates expire. That is simply false. Under the framework, a CEILING was offered by the White House that would generate $800 billion in new revenue over ten years. This would be done through comprehensive tax reform that would clear out deductions, credits, and loopholes in the system – and spur economic growth.
After the gang of six plan came out, the White House moved the goal posts and insisted on $400 billion more in higher taxes – a 50% increase in revenue – and wanted that to be the FLOOR instead of the ceiling. The President acknowledged this in his remarks tonight. “Letting tax cuts expire” was never part of the tax reform agreed to. Please let me know if you have any questions. – steel
Summary of the White House ‘walk backs’ during discussions of the ‘framework.’:

The substance of the conversation was not disclosed but it came one day after reports that Wu was involved in unwanted sexual contact with a young woman last Thanksgiving.

The report has triggered concerns among some Democrats that Wu's behavior could cause political difficulties in the 2012 campaign.

Other Democratic leaders are expressing the same desire, according to those familiar with the deliberation, including some in Oregon.

In June, Pelosi released a statement calling on former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., to step down after a similar Saturday conversation. In that case, however, Pelosi acted weeks after the incident broke into the public and after Weiner lied about the source of lewd photographs linked to his twitter account.

Even so, Weiner's offense was far less severe than the one Wu is alleged to have committed.

"My name is Brad Avakian and I'm running to be Northwest Oregon's next Congressman," Avakian said in a statement posted on his website. "This race is about two things: what our community needs and how it can be best represented."

Avakian has reportedly been frequently mentioned as a potential candidate against Wu. The Willamette Week reported earlier this month that Avakian hired Jake Weigler, who managed Sen. Ron Wyden's (D) 2010 reelection campaign, as his political adviser.

"I love my current job — helping Oregon businesses succeed and protecting the rights of all Oregonians. But these are principles that my district needs an effective representative to pursue in Congress," Avakian added.

Avakian was elected to the Oregon House in 2002 and to the Oregon Senate in 2006, according to his biography on the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries website. He was first appointed Labor Commissioner in April 2008 to fill a vacancy, and was elected to a full term in November 2008.
Wu's strange behavior became public when the Oregonian published a report in February outlining his erratic behavior leading up to the 2010 election. Wu's staff confronted him about his behavior and urged him to get medical attention. In one strange episode, Wu emailed his staff in the middle of the night, sending photos of himself in a tiger costume for Halloween.

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And, Oregon will elect a new Congressman in 2012.

On Bill Rusher – By John O’Sullivan at National Review – When I came to National Review as editor in 1988, I knew Bill Rusher only slightly. We had met at a conference in South Africa twelve or so years before, and though I had enjoyed his company and conversation, I felt him to be a somewhat distant figure. He seemed a type one then encountered quite often in American conservative circles — the civil but cool and reserved gentleman. To less senior staff figures in NR he was always known respectfully as “Mr. Rusher.” I guessed he would need some knowing before we got onto first-name terms.

I was quite wrong. He was friendly and helpful from the start; he encouraged me to take risks in changing the magazine in line with my own editorial vision; he smoothed my path socially with dinner invitations and advice on how to handle especially difficult colleagues (names on request). He was relaxed about the reshaping of the magazine he had helped WFB to shape in part because he had already mapped out his own departure from it. But I realized after a time that he also approved of most of what we were doing. About six months after Wick Allison had replaced him as publisher, Bill told a meeting that he thought the magazine was better than it had ever been. I was not so foolish as to take such praise literally, but I did draw two conclusions about Bill from it: first, that he was a very generous man, second that he was far more lively, open, and (in the good sense) progressive in his thinking than his reserved demeanor might deceptively suggest.

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Another excellent Obit for william Rusher, former Publisher of the Natioanl Review.

President 2012 Poll Watch: Sarah Palin trails Charlie Sheen with independents – We've found a lot of brutal poll numbers for Sarah Palin so far in 2011: down in South Dakota, down in South Carolina, down in Arizona, only up by 1 point in Texas, only up by 1 point in Nebraska to name a few. But this has to be the worst- independent voters say they would support Charlie Sheen over Palin for President by a 41/36 margin. Seriously.

Despite her deficit with independents Palin does lead Sheen 49-29 overall. We also tested Barack Obama against Sheen and the President leads 57-24.

Sheen is one of the most unpopular figures we've ever polled on. 10% of Americans rate him favorably to 67% with a negative opinion of him. The only people we've ever found worse numbers for are Rod Blagojevich in Illinois (an 8/83 favorability spread), Jesse Jackson Jr. in Illinois (a 10/73 favorability), and Levi Johnston in Alaska (a 6/72 favorability). Sheen's -57 spread ties what we found for John Edwards in North Carolina the last time we polled him (15/72).

Sheen's unpopularity is pretty universal across party lines so it says something about the level of polarization in the country right now that Democrats would support him by a 44-24 margin for President over Palin and that Republicans would support him 37-28 over Obama. People may not have any respect for Sheen but they still think he'd be a better alternative than their opposing party's leading figure.

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Kind of funny really.

But, it points out how unpopular and polarizing Sarah Palin is.

Sarah Palin nor Charlie sheen will be running for President and that is probably a good thing.

No one was injured after the Feb. 19, 2010 incident. The congressman's spokesman, Erik Dorey, said Wu fell asleep while driving.

Still, the woman who called 9-1-1 to report the incident said she assumed there was "some kind of disability if he was driving on the wrong side of the street." She also said that Wu did not want her to call police.

The incident, first reported Wednesday in Willamette Week, is the latest in a string of revelations about the congressman's life last year. Wu has apologized for what he calls a rough October, saying he was under extreme professional and personal stress but had received appropriate medication and counseling. In 2008, he was hospitalized for observation after a bad reaction to Ambien and Valium.

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More embarassing revelations for Rep. Wu.

Will the Democratic Party ever lean on him to resign or will they have to primary him?